Sapper Joseph John Maville was born in Chapeau, QC in 1918 to Thomas and Theresa Maville. He had four brothers: George, William, Earl and Maurice, as well as one sister, Theresa. Joseph was working as a miner when he enlisted but had also worked as a timberman.

Sapper Maville enlisted on 29 February 1940 in Toronto, ON and was assigned the 2^nd Field Company. He joined the unit that was already in training at Camp Petawawa, ON. By 8 March 1940, he was qualified as a Pioneer. He embarked in Halifax for England with the second draft of the 2^nd Fd Coy on 13 May 1940.

In England, the 2^nd Field Company was employed on camp construction at Aldershot in Sussex County and continued training in south-west England. Joseph qualified as a driver on 11 August 1941 and was granted permission to marry in August.

In mid-May 1942, the 2^nd Canadian Division was placed in Corps Reserve and the 2^nd Fd Coy moved to Coolham and settled down to a period of more construction projects and training before they started and extensive training and exercise program to prepare for the Dieppe Raid.

On the Dieppe Raid Sapper Maville was a member of Sucharov’s Party of 92 All Ranks that was organized into eight teams and distributed among the Landing Craft. Maville was a member of Cpl Dodd’s 12-man team with the primary task to assist infantry through minefields. Sapper Maville was Killed in Action when he drowned on the beach. He is buried in the Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery, Hautot-sur-Mer, France.

{…with research assistance by the Canadian Military Engineer Museum…}